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Suppaman
Suppaman, called Sourman in the FUNimation Dub of Dragon Ball, is a superhero-wannabe from a far away planet, Okakaumeboshi. He works as a reporter when in disguise as Kenta Kuraaku (暗悪健太; lit. "dark, evil man's name"). Overview Suppaman neither has a sense of justice nor real superpowers. Despite this, he changes his clothes in a phone booth, eating a pickled plum (or sour plums and vinegar plums) to transform, rolls around with his belly on a skateboard, and throws grenades. Biography Early life In his days on Planet Okakaumeboshi, Sourman was in the same preschool as Bubibinman and was nicknamed Supercrybaby because he was a coward. In grade school, he was known as "Suppa-Mouth" ("Suppa-chan the Piggy" in the English ''Dr. Slump'' manga) because of his major appetite.Dr. Slump chapter 36, "Our Hero, Suppaman" ''Tomato'' Suppaman's first appearance is in Akira Toriyama's 1979 one-shot Tomato, Girl Detective. He is only seen in his secret identity Kenta Kuraaku, and he has the role of the manga's antagonist, being suspected of several bank robberies. He manages to take hostages: a baby, a cockroach and ants, but he is still arrested by the heroine, Akai Tomato, in the end. ''Dr. Slump'' Suppaman appears as Kenta Kuraaku in a brief cameo in the Penguin Village clothing store in the first Dr. Slump chapter, "The Birth of Arale". He appears again in brief cameo, as Suppaman this time, in the chapters "Something's Missing!" and "Arale Flies the Skies!". Suppaman has a bigger role in the chapter "Our Hero, Suppaman", where he tries to impress Arale Norimaki and Gatchan, and finally defeats Arale at Rock-Paper-Scissors. As Kenta Kuraaku, he attampts to rob a bank in chapter 50, "Untouchable", but he is stopped by Arale. In "Heel, Achilles!", his girlfriend lives him for a man who has a nicer car. Suppaman has again a major role in the chapter "Suppaman 2", in which he confronts Arale, Gatchan, and Chivil. Later in the series, when Obotchaman leaves Dr. Mashirito, Suppaman's house is taken from him by Obotchaman who literally picks it up and moves it somewhere else. Suppaman spends the rest of his days living in a tent. ''Dragon Ball'' Kenta Kuraaku is driving in the road when General Blue stops him. He changes into Suppaman and tries to intimidate Blue by punching a brick, but fails when Blue crushes a phone booth with his arms right in front of him. Suppaman then becomes completely loyal to Blue, letting him use his car and telling him the whereabouts of an airplane located at Senbei's house. Once Blue leaves, Suppaman says to himself he will let him go this time. Voice actors * 1980s series: Tesshō Genda * FUNimation Dub of Dragon Ball: Dameon Clarke Trivia * The name Suppaman is derived from the Japanese word for sour "Suppai" and the English word "Man". "Suppaman" sounds similar to the Japanese pronunciation of Superman "Suupaaman"スーパーマン. * The symbol on his chest す (su) is the first character of the Japanese spelling of suppai (すっぱい). * Suppaman's Japanese secret identity of "Kenta Kuraaku" is a play on Superman's secret identity of "Clark Kent" -- both are reporters and both names are similar when spoken in Japanese, "Kenta Kuraaku" sounds just like "Kent Clark" (Japanese put their family names first, and given names last. * Suppaman briefly appears in a stage in Super Dragon Ball Z, where he is seen skateboarding-flying across the street after a newspaper stand is smashed by the player. * Mr. Satan, a Dragon Ball Z character, has a personalitythat is almost exactly the same as Suppaman's. Mr. Satan was likely based on Suppaman in terms of personality. Gallery References Category:Characters Category:Characters from other Toriyama works Category:Characters who appeared in Dragon Ball Category:Aliens Category:Males Category:Major Characters Category:Superheroes Category:Villains